McKee Craft: Project boat

We picked up a 1972 McKee Craft 14.
The previous owner discovered water infiltration into the foam floatation.
The boat probably weighed an extra 300 pounds.
Apparently there where breaches in the sole.  He cut out the floor and removed the waterlogged foam.  The boat then sat in his garage for 2 years.  Just recently he decided to let it go.
It is now super dry and with the dirty work done, we are looking at a fun project that won't take too long.
The McKee craft is a nice shaped boat that looks to be a derivative of the Boston Whaler.
It is slightly larger in all dimensions than the 13 foot whaler.
From what we can observe of this hull, it has sound gelcoat and a good thick layup of glass.  This is why it still has a fair shape after 46 years.
For other posts about this boat, follow these links:
https://seastatemarine.blogspot.com/2018/02/mckee-craft-14-gets-new-sole.html

https://seastatemarine.blogspot.com/2018/04/mckee-craft-update-thar-she-blows.html

https://seastatemarine.blogspot.com/2018/03/mckee-craft-14-hatch-lid-replacement.html

Catamaran: the connection

Here are photos of the big lift.
A temporary scaffold was built to support the connecting structure above it's final position.  In future sessions, this will be precisely lowered into place and faired to the hulls.
The excavator made quick work of it.

Catamaran: Some assembly required

Captn Mark is ready to start placing the connecting structures on his gargantuan boat building project.
I was happy to lend a hand.
We used a rotating laser and a steel tape to check for level and proper geometry of the hulls.
He had placed the hulls close to their final positions previously.  Today we were just moving the hulls the final few centimeters in several dimensions.

The connecting structure will be lifted by machine tomorrow.  I will try to get photos.
The boat is a Kurt Hughes design.

Large catamaran!

A friend is building a large cat in his yard!  He has waterfront on Bay River here in Pamlico county.
It is a very ambitious project and he is making great strides.  He is currently building the connective structures and cabin parts.  I believe it is about 56 feel LOA.    Huge.
More photos and specs to follow.

Cat under the live oaks.

Bottom Job

We had the hydro out for the winter.  For the summer boating season we wanted to give the boat an epoxy barrier coat and a proper antifouling bottom job.  We  scraped off some barnacles, sanded and mixed up West system epoxy with barrier coat additive.
After it hardened, we gave it a light sanding.  The ablative paint should keep us clean for a few months of fun.
Ingo added a higher pitch prop and has been racing around with his friend Alden.

Steel Sailboats

Saturday afternoon I got an invitation for a sail on SV Prinses Mia.  Her captain Martijn Dijkstra  is a fine fellow stopping in Oriental for a few weeks after sailing over from Las Palmas Spain.
His boat, is a hefty 25 ton steel sloop with a pilot house.  It was built in 1980 in Holland.
Prinses Mia feels like a ship.  Here are the particulars...
LOA 50 feet
Beam 17 feet
Draft 7 feet
Auxiliary is a 70hp Mitsubishi diesel
He swapped this engine out and replaced it with a 300 D Mercedes car diesel in 2019 here in Oriental.

Martijn fabricated this effective windlass.

The good captain.

Oriental Boat show

It was a great weekend for the boat show.  A beautiful breezy Saturday made it hard not to want to buy a boat.  We had great fun visiting the booths and walking through various sailboats.  Here are some photos...

Spring Sailing!

The 2017 Sailpack Interconference Regatta got a perfect weather day today.16 college teams from up and down the east coast are competing this weekend.

Heavy Fog on the Neuse

A heavy fog rolled in this afternoon and made the town disappear before our eyes.

House Progress

We are closing up the house in time for winter weather such as it is down here.
We have three windows and three exterior doors left to install.  After that, the place will be a lot less drafty.  The electric and plumbing rough ins are underway.

The Bird House

Salvage: not today

Last Sunday, with the help of a friend, we pumped out the standing rain water and towed the derelict Columbia 26 to our slip.  We were alerted to the boat by a previous owner of the boat.
He told me the the most recent owner of the boat never registered it and after a storm left it abandoned.
In the course of the tow, a DNR water patrol officer came along side and inquired about our intentions.
At that point the salvage was in gear and he was happy to be rid of the boat.
He had a copy of the current (2015) registration with owners name.
The officer did not have correct contact info and had never been able to contact the owner to press him to move the boat.
He gave us the registration papers.  With these I was able to track down the owner, give him a call to find out his intentions.
He said he has and interested buyer.
I encouraged him go for it.
While we were within our rights to claim salvage on an abandoned boat, reason dictated I return the boat and move on.
After inspecting the boat and estimating the needed work, the rescue didn't make sense. Poor ODIN!
I do like the lines of this boat and its interior is surprisingly roomy.  It also has the advantage of being able to fit under the Oriental bridge.  But as my friend suggested, it is a buyers market and boats of this size can be had reasonably.
The whole exercise was not a waste.  I was under the impression the smallest boat I would be interested in for accommodations would be in the 34 foot range.  This 1969 Columbia was way bigger the the 1969 Carl Alberg designed Kittywake I had owned previously.
The fire has been lit.  We will be looking for a boat around 28-31 feet.
Here is a photo of Tiny and I contemplating our future:

Salvage!

The owner of an abandoned boat told Christa we could have it if we could free it from its approaching doom.

The boat dragged anchor in a storm in 2012 and drifted way up a local creek. 

The wind has been blowing from the NE and filling up the sound.

Christa and I checked out the boat today.  It is salvageable.  It is floating.  This high water helps.  It is swinging around on it's keel. 

It looks like it was broken into at one point and stripped of some interior fixtures.  It was left open and has about 6 inches of water in it.

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to pump it out and hopefully tow it to a slip we have near the bridge.  I think our little skiff can do it.